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MWSS-272 teams up with Air Force

Marine Corps News

Release Date: 9/25/2003

Story by Lance Cpl. Zachary Frank

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C.(September 25, 2003) -- A detachment of forty-three Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 avoided Hurricane Isabel while conducting Exercise Silver Flag.

A weeklong field exercise, Silver Flag took place at the Silver Sands training area on Tyndall Air Force Base in western Florida.

The detachment arrived the morning of Sept. 13 to begin seven days of joint-service training with the United States Air Force. Throughout the week, the Marines worked side-by-side with Air Force personnel and were instructed on how to use Air Force equipment. The training enabled them to work cohesively to reach goals.

"In a war-time field situation," said Air Force Silver Flag instructor Staff Sgt. Devon Casey, "the chance of working with the gear you use everyday isn't likely."

According to Casey, this form of training taught the Marines that if they ever arrived on a joint-service base they could adapt to the situation and still accomplish their mission; training exercises like these are becoming more common to accommodate Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's view of a joint-military.

The first five days of the exercise were classes that allowed the Marines and Airmen to become accustomed to the different gear used by other branches of service. It didn't take long before the Marines became efficient with the Air Force equipment, which impressed the instructors. Many instructors stated how surprised they were with the speed the Marines were achieving goals they had set for their groups. The Marines often motivated their Air Force counterparts, and the groups finished hours ahead of groups that came before them.

At the end of the week a two-day practicable application exercise assessed what they had learned during the earlier portion of the week. Although the instructor staff did not grade the tasks they had set, the Marines were still driven to accomplish the mission, continuing late into the night until the tasks had been completed.

The Marines were separated into groups by their work sections. Each group was given tasks to complete during the exercise. The tasks were assigned according to the class they had taken during the week. Many of these tasks were involved and took many hours to complete, but the Marines rose to the challenge and finished most tasks earlier than expected.

Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Marines had mass chemical warfare simulations in full Mission Oriented Protective Posture suits while the Aircraft, Rescue and Firefighting Marines were kept busy with staged fuel fires and smoking helicopter drills. The individual units took part in their own difficult assignments as well as group challenges such as building tents at the end of the day so they would have somewhere to sleep. The following morning they took down the tents so the exercise could continue.

There were high levels of frustration and instances of competitiveness between the Air Force and Marines, but at the end of the day everyone came together, proud of what they had accomplished as a singular unit. Training Exercise Silver Flag achieved what it was designed to; it brought together two branches of the military into a joint-service situation, and it showed that it is possible to combine forces in the field and not be hindered by the lack of mutual knowledge.